Unexpected
by reddiefan25
Summary: Rachel and Eddie have to face a big change but how will Eddie's daughter react? Series 4 based. REDDIE
1. Chapter 1

**I've decided to start another Reddie fic. Don't know how popular it will be so I may only write it for a bit. Its sort of series four based but Mel never got involved with Eddie, but Mel did leave so Philip is living with Rachel. Rachel's history is all the same in this one and Eddie does know about it. There's no Michael or Stephen but Eddie does have an 11 year old daughter called Taylor. Taylor is the daughter of Allison but Allison died tragically shortly after giving birth to Taylor. **

Chapter 1 

Rachel Mason was sat in her office trying to get through her mountain of paper work. She couldn't concentrate though because she had something else on her mind. Somehow she'd managed to get herself into a situation that she really didn't want to be in and right now she didn't know what to do.

The bell went signalling the end of break and Rachel knew that she had to find out once and for all. Her period was late and she thought that she might be pregnant. Rachel picked up her keys and coat and left to go and buy a pregnancy test. Luckily Eddie was teaching so she wouldn't have to make up an excuse as to why she was leaving school.

Rachel rushed into Tesco and quickly bought a test before going back to school. She really wanted to do it at home, but she couldn't leave school for too long during the middle of the day and she also knew that she wasn't going to get anything done until she knew whether or not she was pregnant.

After driving back to school in her Audi TT and parking in her usual space Rachel quickly made her way to the staff toilets. She smiled at one of the teachers as she walked out, leaving Rachel alone. She went into a cubicle locking the door behind her. She sat down and removed the pregnancy test from her bag and carried it out.

After a very very long three minutes two blue lines showed up on the test telling Rachel that she was indeed pregnant. Rachel had very mixed emotions about this and she found her eyes welling up with tears.

She was unsure about whether she was happy or not. Part of her did want a baby and after all she wasn't getting any younger. But she and Eddie had only been dating for about 6 weeks. Not to mention Eddie's daughter. Eddie hadn't even told Taylor that they were together yet. The plan was to tell her at the weekend and Eddie had invited Rachel over for dinner on Saturday to introduce the two.

Rachel went back to her office and sat with her head in her hands. She thought back to the night of Philip's party when her and Eddie had had unprotected sex. She felt a bit hypocritical about always going on at the kids about the dangers of unprotected sex.

It was the middle of fourth period and Rachel decided that it would be best to tell Eddie strait away. She went down to his classroom to find him marking as he had a free period.

"Ah, Miss Mason. What can I do for you?" Eddie asked flirtatiously

"There's something I need to talk to you about" Rachel said with a more serious tone as she closed the door behind her and came and perched on Eddie's desk.

"What is it Rach?" Eddie asked concerned

"Well, I'm pregnant"

Eddie was shocked. He was worried about how his daughter was going to react about Rachel as she had never had to share her Dad with another woman. But now he also had to tell Taylor that Rachel was pregnant. But on the other hand Eddie was over the moon that Rachel was having his baby. Even though they'd only been together officially for 6 weeks, they'd both loved one another for a lot longer but had both just been too scared to admit it. Eddie was brought out of his thoughts by Rachel's voice.

"Eddie, say something. I know it's not ideal, but I'm sure that we can get through this together"

Eddie took Rachel's hand and squeezed it supportively.

"It's brilliant Rach. You're right, it's not ideal timing wise. But I'm sure Taylor will be happy once she gets used to the idea, she's always wanted another brother or sister. I'm going to be with you every step of the way Rach, I promise"

Rachel was relieved to hear these words. She was sure that Eddie would be willing to support her but of course there was still doubt at the back of her mind.

"I love you Miss Mason and this baby is only going to make me love you even more" Eddie whispered into Rachel's ear sending shivers down Rachel's spine.

Rachel and Eddie quickly pulled apart as someone walked past Eddie's room. They hadn't told the staff yet as they didn't think it fair until Taylor knew. Philip was aware of the situation but only because he guessed.

**I know this chapter is quite short, but it's just an introduction. Please review, do you think I should continue or not?**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The rest of the week flew by and the weekend had arrived. Rachel and Eddie went to a doctor's appointment in the week and they said they she was about 4 weeks gone.

Eddie had just finished work and picked Taylor up from his Mum's on Friday and decided to tell Taylor about Rachel, to give her some time to think things through before Rachel came over for dinner the next day.

"Why don't you go upstairs and get changed and then I have something I need to talk to you about" Eddie instructed to his daughter

Taylor went up to her bedroom and got changed feeling puzzled about what it was that her Dad wanted to talk to her about. She came back down into the lounge where her Dad was sat on the sofa, he patted a spot on the sofa intending for her to come and sit there.

"What was it you wanted to talk to me about Dad?" Taylor asked

Eddie said nothing for a few moments, instead he just took a piece of her silky, blonde hair and put it behind her ear.

"You know I love you very, very much right?" Eddie said

"Yes"

"Well what I'm about to tell you doesn't change anything. Do you remember Rachel from my school? You met her when you came into school with me that day last year."

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"Well she's my, my girlfriend" Eddie said placing a gentle hand on Taylor's shoulder, but she shrugged him off.

Taylor just looked at her Dad with a blank expression on her face and didn't say anything.

"Well how do you feel about it?"

"I don't know. What does it matter what I think?"

"Because you're my little girl and you're always going to come first for me. So I'm not going to do anything that you don't feel happy about"

"It's fine, I don't mind Dad" Taylor said as she went to get upstairs

"Hang on a second Tay, there's something else" Eddie said

"What?"

Eddie paused for a moment as he didn't really know how to tell Taylor about the baby. What sort of an example was he setting to his daughter.

"Rachel's pregnant"

"Pregnant? She's pregnant? What do you mean she's pregnant Dad?"

"Me and Rachel are going to have a baby, you're going to have a brother or sister"

"I do know what pregnant means Dad. Well that's great I guess"

"Really, you really think that?" Eddie questioned

"Yes. Now I've got some homework to do Dad."

"Okay darling, well I've invited her around for dinner tomorrow so that you two can meet. And she's also bringing her nephew, Phil, with her because he lives with her"

Eddie was very surprised by how accepting Taylor had been about him and Rachel, and especially about the baby. He was expecting her to get angry or upset, but she hadn't. She just seemed to have carried on as if nothing had changed. Eddie walked into the kitchen feeling relieved that he'd told his daughter about Rachel.

...

The following day Rachel was waiting anxiously to leave to go to Eddie's. She really wanted Taylor to like her and be able to accept her, but she just wasn't sure at how easy this was going to be. Finally it was time to head to Eddie's so she shouted to Philip and the two of them drove to Eddie's.

Eddie was in the kitchen hoping that tonight was going to go smoothly when the doorbell rang. He went and shouted to Taylor and then went to let Rachel and Philip in.

"Hiya, come on in" Eddie said as he opened the door

"Thanks for having us over tonight Eddie" Rachel said

"Yeah thanks Eddie" Phil added

"Taylor, Rachel and Phil are here. Are you going to come down and say hello?" Eddie called to his daughter once again.

Taylor reluctantly left her room and came downstairs. She didn't want them in her house to be perfectly honest, but what choice did she have. She wanted her Dad to be happy, of course she did, but she didn't want to be forgotten about.

"Hello you must be Taylor" Rachel said as Taylor walked into the lounge where Eddie, Rachel and Phil were

"Hi" Taylor replied shyly

"This is Philip, my nephew" Rachel informed Taylor

"Hello" Philip replied in his usual awkward way

Taylor just smiled. She didn't really want to be here right now, she just wanted another Saturday night in with just her Dad. Taylor walked into the kitchen and Eddie followed her.

"Sorry, I'll just be a minute" he exclaimed

"Taylor, are you sure you're okay with Rachel and Philip coming over for dinner?" Eddie asked as he walked into the kitchen

"Yes"

Taylor and Eddie went back into the lounge, where she reluctantly had to engage in a conversation. Soon the beeper went off informing Eddie that the lasagne was cooked. Lasagne was one of the rare meals that Eddie could actually cook really well.

The four of them sat down at the table to eat their dinner.

"This is delicious Eddie" Rachel exclaimed

Throughout the rest of the meal Rachel tried to connect with Taylor, but all she seemed to be getting out of her was one word answers. It was clear to Rachel that Taylor was unhappy about the situation and Rachel wished she could do something to make her feel better about it. The question was just what.

Once everyone had finished and everything had been cleared away Eddie asked Taylor to get the ice cream out of the freezer.

"So that's all you want me for now, is it? To run around after all of you. I suppose that all that matters now is that baby. I'm just not important anymore" Taylor snapped before stomping into the kitchen to get the ice cream out of the freezer.

Something in her just snapped. All of the feelings and emotions that she had been trying to conceal just came out of her. She walked back into the kitchen and placed the ice cream on the table. She then rushed out and up to her bedroom because she was embarrassed by what she had just said and wished that she hadn't said it.

Eddie got up to go upstairs and speak to his daughter but Rachel stopped him.

"Eddie why don't you just give her a bit of time to herself. She clearly just needs some more time to get her head around the idea."

Eddie thought that Rachel was probably right but he hated seeing his daughter so upset.

After a while Eddie went up to speak to his daughter. He knocked on the door and waited for her to say that he could come in. Taylor was just sat on her bed looking into thin air so Eddie went and sat by her.

"I thought you were okay with me and Rachel?" Eddie asked

"It's just hard when I'm used to having you all to myself"

"I know honey. Rachel won't change anything between us. I'll always always always be there for you, no matter what."

"You promise?"

"I promise honey. Now do you think you could come back downstairs for a bit. Rachel is really nice and I think you'd really like her if you gave her a chance"

"Okay"

Eddie walked back downstairs followed by Taylor and entered the lounge.

"Rachel, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for how rude I was at dinner"

"Hey, you have nothing to be sorry about. I know how you must be feeling, but I promise you that I won't take your Dad away from you."

"I know"

"What are you doing tomorrow Taylor?"

"Nothing, why?"

"I thought that we could do something just the two of us, maybe go shopping or something?" Rachel asked

"Yes okay. Is that alright Dad?"

"Of course it is honey" Eddie replied feeling glad that Taylor was giving Rachel a chance

**Please review xxxx**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Sunday arrived and actually Taylor was feeling really excited about her shopping trip with Rachel. Usually she had to go with her Dad, who just took her in to get whatever she needed and it was always really boring. She couldn't wait to go shopping with a girl, someone who actually liked shopping.

Taylor was sat at the table having breakfast with Eddie when the doorbell rang, so Eddie went and opened it to see Rachel stood there. He couldn't help but notice how she looked even more beautiful now she was pregnant, although he didn't know how this was possible.

"Hi" Eddie said

"Hi, does Taylor still want to go today?" Rachel replied

"Yeah. She's so excited Rach. Come in" said Eddie before beginning to kiss Rachel once they were in the lounge. However, the kiss was soon broken when Taylor walked in.

"Hi Rachel" Taylor said

"Hi Taylor. Are you sure you still want to go today?" Rachel asked. She felt she had to make sure because she knew how big a thing it must be for Taylor, letting someone new into her life.

"Yes please" Taylor replied

"Do you want a coffee before you get going?" Eddie asked

"Urmm, as lovely as that sounds I think we'll just get going" Rachel replied much to Taylor's delight

"Okay, well hope you have fun" Eddie said whilst getting some money out of his wallet to give to Rachel

"Eddie I don't want any money, if she sees anything she likes I'm happy to pay"

"I can't expect you to do that"

"I want to" Rachel replied causing Taylor to smile

"Remember, nothing too short Taylor" Eddie said knowing how Taylor liked to wear things that were too short for his liking

"Don't be so boring Eddie. I'm sure what you consider to be short really isn't" Rachel teased

With that Rachel and Taylor left the house and got into Rachel's audi TT.

"So Taylor. Are you looking for anything particular or are you just looking?" Rachel asked

"I'd quite like a new outfit for our school leavers BBQ"

"That sounds like fun. I never got a leaving BBQ when I left primary school"

"Neither did Dad, you must be too old" Taylor joked

An immediate bond seemed to have been formed between the two of them, and the pair were already getting along really well.

After about a 20 minute drive to the shopping mall Rachel parked the car and then they started shopping. They went to New Look first because Taylor said that she liked the clothes in the children's section in there.

Taylor picked out a few things and Rachel also picked out some things for her, and then they went to the changing rooms.

She tried on the things that she'd picked first but she didn't really like them. She then tried on one of the tops that Rachel had chosen for her. She didn't really like it when she saw it but Rachel had persuaded her to try it on. But when she put it on she really liked it and Rachel thought she looked lovely in it too.

Rachel bought the top for Taylor and then they headed for Zara. Taylor didn't normally shop in Zara but she was happy to go in there because Rachel had suggested it. It was in Zara that they found the perfect dress for Taylor's BBQ.

"Dad will probably say it's too short" Taylor said once they had bought the dress

"I don't think that he really had a say in it" Rachel joked

After a little bit more shopping Taylor began to feel a bit hungry so they went to Pizza Express for a bit of lunch.

"Rachel how long before you're going to have the baby?" Taylor asked. She didn't really speak to Rachel much last night because of her little strop so she didn't find out any of the details.

"Well, I'm only about a month gone at the moment, I'm due on the 8th March. But nobody apart from me, your Dad, you and Philip know yet, so please don't tell anyone."

"Okay, but why not? Are you not happy that you're having a baby?" Taylor replied slightly confused

"I'm really happy about having the baby sweetheart. But normally people wait until there about 12 weeks before they tell anyone, just in case something goes wrong."

"Oh"

After lunch they continued shopping until Taylor was really tired. She felt like such a lucky girl; Rachel had bought her so much. But Rachel wasn't trying to buy Taylor's approval, it just felt nice for her to be spending money on the little girl.

When they arrived back at Eddie's they both crashed on the sofa whilst Eddie went and got some drinks. Phil was sat with them too as he had spent the day with Eddie. They went to watch a football match.

The family sat around talking about their days and then Eddie remembered the call he got from the LEA earlier that day.

"Taylor honey, I'm really sorry but I've been called away on a last minute course so you're going to be staying with Grandma and Grandad from tomorrow until Wednesday."

"Really? When did you find that out?" Rachel asked

"They rang earlier today and said they'd arranged it and that I had to go"

"Do I have to stay with Grandma and Grandad? Can't I stay with Rachel" Taylor questioned

"Taylor, you can't just invite yourself to someone elses house" Eddie said

"She can if she wants to Eddie. If she wants to stay then I'm happy to have her" Rachel said. Taylor wrapped her arms around Rachel's neck giving her a big hug. Rachel was caught off guard but at the same time thrilled.

"Really?" Taylor asked

"Of course you can if that's what you want. But what's wrong with Grandma and Grandad?"

"Nothing's wrong with them, I'd just much rather stay with you"

"Are you sure Rach?" Eddie asked

"It will be lovely having her to stay for a few days. If you pack your stuff I'll take it home with me after dinner so that it's all ready for tomorrow" Rachel replied


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The next day Rachel was able to leave work early because she had no meetings and there was no more paper work that absolutely needed doing today. She got into her car and drove to Taylor's school to pick her up. It felt quite weird to be doing a school pick up run because she wasn't used to it, but at the same time it felt quite nice.

As soon as Taylor walked out of her classroom she noticed how unhappy she looked.

"Hi Taylor. Did you have a good day?" Rachel asked as Taylor walked over to her

"Yes, it was okay thanks" Taylor replied but Rachel noticed how unusually flat her voice sounded. She had only known the girl for a few days but it was easy to tell that Taylor was usually a very bubbly girl.

It wasn't until they were both in Rachel's car that Taylor allowed Rachel to see that actually she was upset. She started to cry almost as soon as they'd sat in the car.

"Hey what's wrong?" Rachel asked placing her hand supportively on Taylor's thigh

"Nothing, it doesn't matter" Taylor replied trying so hard to stop crying

"Please tell me, I can help you"

Taylor thought for a few moments before deciding to tell Rachel. She could tell that she wasn't going to stop until she got some answers.

"Well today at school we had some talks and I didn't really know what they were talking about it" Taylor explained

"What were the talks about?"

Taylor hesitated for a moment. "Well we're going to be having them all week, they're about puberty" Taylor's cheeks began to flush slightly as she felt quite uncomfortable with the issues "I mean I've heard about it before but nobody's really actually talked to me about it properly. All of the other girls have talked about it with their Mum's but I don't have a Mum" Taylor said as more tears started to fall

Rachel really did feel sorry for the girl. In many ways Taylor was in a similar situation to what Rachel was in when she was Taylor's age. Although Rachel's Mum had been around she never made time to talk to her about any of these things. She decided that someone needed to talk to Taylor about it, and she thought it would probably be best if she did it.

"Oh sweetie, I know how you must be feeling. If you want we can have a little chat about it. But only if you want to" Rachel said

"Really?" Taylor asked

"Yes. How about we go home and get changed. And then go shopping and talk about it over dinner" Rachel suggested knowing Phil was at Bolton's tonight anyway

"Okay" Taylor replied although she was slightly confused because they'd only just been shopping yesterday.

"So why are we going shopping again today?" Taylor asked when they were on the escalator in M&S

"Because I thought that maybe you would like to start wearing a bra" Rachel replied

Rachel had noticed that it was maybe time Taylor started to wear a bra when they were shopping yesterday, but she didn't think it was her place to decide. She had then talked about it with Eddie when they got home, who had admitted that he just didn't know how to approach the situation because it made him feel really awkward. So Rachel had agreed that she would take Taylor.

"I did think that I needed to start wearing one, but I just didn't know how to talk to Dad about it" Taylor admitted

They got to the lingerie floor and they picked up some bras for Taylor to try on and then headed to the changing rooms.

"Do you want to go in and try them on, and I'll just wait outside?" Rachel asked asked

"Can you come in with me and see if they fit properly please?" Taylor replied

Rachel was happy the girl felt comfortable with this. It was best that Rachel made sure they fitted properly.

After buying a selection of the bras that fitted they headed to Nandos for dinner.

Rachel didn't know how much or how little Taylor did know about puberty so decided to just start with the basics.

"So what do you understand by the word puberty?" Rachel asked

"Well I know it's when your body changes from a girl into a woman" Taylor replied

"Okay and do you know what any of the changes are?"

"Boobs start to develop and something to do with periods starting" Taylor replied

Taylor was feeling a bit uncomfortable talking about it but at the time was glad that they were.

"Yes, girls start having periods. This is because every month your womb gets ready to have a baby by creating a womb lining, but if no baby is made there is no need for it so you bleed for a bit to get rid of it." Rachel explained

"What happens if a baby is made?" Taylor questioned

"Your periods stop until the baby is born"

"So you won't have another period until your baby is born?"

"That's right"

"When am I going to start my periods" Taylor asked

"I don't know. You could start soon but it may be another few years yet. Which is why it's always best to be prepared."

"What do you mean prepared"

"Well when you have periods you wear pads to stop the blood going on your pants. So we'll buy you some of them to keep in the bathroom"

The pair talked for a bit more until Taylor felt a lot more happier about the changes that were happening to her already. After they finished their meal they went and bought some pads from boots and headed home.

"Do you want to have a bath or a shower?" Rachel asked Taylor

"I'll have a bath please" Taylor replied

Rachel ran the bath for Taylor and then left her to it. She hadn't been back downstairs for long when she heard Taylor shouting.

"Rachel, will you wash my hair for me please?" Taylor asked

"Of course I can" Rachel replied

Rachel felt really pleased that Taylor felt comfortable with her doing this and seeing her in the bath.

Rachel went into the bathroom and washed her hair for her. Taylor missed having someone wash her hair. Her Dad had stopped bathing her a few years ago and it was nice for her to have someone to do it again.

Once Rachel had washed her hair she helped her out of the bath and then blow dried her hair for her. The two of them watched some TV for a bit before Taylor went to bed.

**Please please please review and let me know what you think. **


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**Watched series 4 episode 19 last night, so I've decided to base this chapter on the episode. **

The next day Rachel collected Taylor from school and then left her in her office with Philip doing some homework, whilst she had to go to a short meeting. Once the meeting had finished the three of them got into Rachel's car and drove home.

"Rach, should we make something for the fundraiser tomorrow?" Philip asked

"How about we make some chocolate brownies?" Rachel suggested as they walked into the kitchen

"I love cooking" Taylor exclaimed

Rachel looked through her cupboards to see if she had all of the ingredients but realised that she didn't have any dark chocolate.

"Right, well we don't have any dark chocolate so I'll just pop out and buy some."

"I can go if you like Rach" Philip offered

"If you don't mind"

"I'll just get changed and then I'll go"

Philip went upstairs and got changed and then walked to the shops to buy the chocolate. He had just picked up the dark chocolate and was about to go and pay when he saw the laxative chocolate. He remembered that one of his friends from his old school had given it to his sister once as a joke, and remembered what it did.

"_That's a stupid thing to do and really mean" _Philip thought to himself "_I really want to get them back but would it really be fair to put them through all of that?" _

In the end Phil's need to get the choir and everyone else back, got the better of him and instead of buying the normal chocolate he bought the laxative chocolate.

"I'm home" Phil called as he walked through the front door

The three of them started to make the chocolate brownies. Philip quickly broke all of the chocolate up into a bowl and then threw away the evidence. Luckily, neither Rachel nor Taylor noticed.

The three of them had great fun making them together, and Rachel thought it was a great bonding experience for them all.

Rachel made dinner while the brownies were in the oven, and then she took them out of the oven once they were ready.

"Please can we try one?" Taylor asked excitedly

"Not until after dinner" Rachel replied

Rachel, Taylor and Phil sat around the table eating dinner. It was the happiest Rachel had seen Phil since they'd arrived in Rochdale and she was hoping that it was because he was finally beginning to settle in.

"Do you two want to try a brownie now?" Rachel asked once all of the plates had been cleared away

"Yes please" Taylor replied

Rachel cut them and then put one on a plate for Taylor. Phil felt bad knowing what was going to happen to Taylor, but if he stopped her from eating it they would get suspicious.

"Do you want one Phil?" Rachel asked

"No thanks, I'll have one later" he replied as he walked up to his room. Rachel didn't want one either because she was full from dinner.

"They're delicious" Taylor said

"Of course they are, we made them didn't we" Rachel joked

"What do you want to do now?"

"Do you have any games we could play?"

Rachel was quite surprised that Taylor wanted to play a game. Rachel loved playing games, but she didn't know many teenagers that liked playing board games.

"Why don't you go and have a look in the cupboard in the lounge"

In the end they decided on cluedo. They asked Philip if he wanted to play but he said that he had homework to do.

Taylor won the game. Rachel was very impressed by how good she was. She presumed that Eddie must have brought her up playing board games, and she liked that.

They were just packing up the game when Rachel noticed Taylor bent over clutching her tummy.

"Are you alright love?" Rachel asked

"I keep getting these stomach cramps" Taylor replied

"How about I get you a hot water bottle, that should help, and then we watch some TV?"

"Yes please"

Rachel filled the hot water bottle up for Taylor, who put it against her tummy and then they put eastenders on. But it wasn't long before Taylor had to rush upstairs to go to the toilet.

She had an upset stomach for a couple of hours but after that she felt a lot better so Rachel put her to bed.

"If you don't feel very well again in the night then come and get me, okay?"

"Okay thank you Rachel, good night." Taylor replied

"Night love" Rachel said placing a kiss on Taylor's forehead. She hadn't done that before but somehow it just seemed like the right thing to do. She was worried after she did it that she may have made Taylor feel uncomfortable, but the smile that Taylor gave her told her otherwise.

The next morning Rachel dropped Taylor at her primary school and then did the familiar drive to Waterloo Road with Philip.

"Thanks for making the brownies with me last night" Philip said as they carried the brownies into the school hall

"It was a pleasure, I really enjoyed it actually" Rachel replied

After a really early lunch the fundraising was starting. Rachel was sat in her office, about to head down to the hall, when Jasmine walked in.

"There's a whole bunch of kids feeling ill, I think they must have come down with something" Jasmine said

"How many?" Rachel asked thinking what else could go wrong today

"About 30"

Rachel walked downstairs to see what was going on, when she saw students running all over the place.

"What's going on?" Rachel asked coming down the stairs where she felt relieved to see that Eddie had returned from his course

"I think they've got what I've got, it's the Rochdale runs" Tom replied

"Lets get them all into one classroom near the toilets" Rachel instructed

Rachel thought it was a bit funny how they seemed to have what Taylor had last night. She thought that maybe there was a bug going round or something.

After speaking to the local authorities Rachel did what she was advised and called for an Environmental Health officer to come to the school.

"The symptoms are pretty much the same. Stomach cramps, a sudden urge to go to the toilet" Rachel informed

After having to cancel the fundraising event Rachel was already feeling upset and annoyed. Little did she know that her day was going to go from bad to worse, when she found out that her own Nephew was the cause of all of the ill students.

"Listen can you just come here for a minute Eddie? It's not them, it's not the meat. It's Philip, he's put laxatives in the chocolate bloody brownies. The ones that I helped him to make."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure"

"I tell you, that kid needs a size 10 up the backside"

"I feel really humiliated by this Eddie" Rachel told the one man she truly trusted as tears started to form in her eyes "where did I go wrong with him?"

"You've done nothing wrong" Eddie replied pulling Rachel into his warm embrace. This caused a few tears to escape from Rachel's eyes but she was quick to compose herself again. She wasn't prepared to let anyone else see that this had got to her.

After a long day at school it was finally time to go home. Rachel drove Phil home with her in an uncomfortable silence, whilst Eddie went to pick up Taylor from school and then drive over to Rachel's.

"Taylor would you mind going and doing some homework in the kitchen for a bit please? Me and Rachel need to speak to Philip for a little bit"

"Okay" Taylor replied cheerfully. Rachel really did appreciate just how easy going the girl was.

"Oh Phil, why didn't you talk to me or Eddie about it?" Rachel asked feeling rather sorry for her nephew "we could have helped you"

"It would only have made it worse" Philip replied his eyes glued to the floor because he couldn't look them in the eye

Rachel sat down on the sofa and put her arm around him supportively. "I promise you Phil, it all stops now. We're going to sort this. Okay?"

"Okay" Philip replied feeling a lot better knowing that he had his Aunt on his side. He then went up to his room to play on his xbox.

"Taylor" Rachel called "you can come back in now"

"Right little miss, we'd better get you home and get some dinner" Eddie said

"Oh, can't we sleep here tonight Dad?" Taylor replied

"You can't keep inviting yourself round to Rachel's"

"Well she's been no trouble whatsoever Eddie and I'd be glad of your company" Rachel replied. She didn't want either of them to go home. She wanted the man she loved and his little girl to stay with her tonight.

**Please review and let me know what you think. **

**I have a poll on my profile that you can decide if Rachel and Eddie have a boy or a girl. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Well done to everyone who got their GCSE results today, you've all done really well. Especially Sarahbc0598 and Crayolacreation. **

Chapter 6

Although Rachel had said he really didn't have to, Eddie insisted on cooking dinner that night to say thank you to Rachel for having Taylor.

So the four of them sat down to dinner, and it really did look like the perfect family. But really the family was quite complicated. What with Taylor being the biological daughter of Eddie but not Rachel, and Philip not being the biological son of Rachel or Eddie. Instead the nephew of just Rachel. But to them they were still a family. A happy one.

"Thank you for dinner, it was delicious" Rachel said wrapping her arms around Eddie's neck and giving him a gentle kiss. She pulled away trying to suppress her giggles.

"What's so funny?" Eddie asked

"I just don't think it's your colour Eddie" Rachel said causing Eddie to get confused. But he soon realised when Rachel reached across to wipe away the lipstick smudge from his lips. Causing them all to laugh, even Phil.

They all helped to clear up the kitchen. Eddie washed, Rachel dried whilst Phil and Taylor put everything away.

Later that evening Taylor had gone to bed and Phil was in his room. So it was just Rachel and Eddie. They were both sat on one of Rachel's brown leather sofas, Rachel sat on Eddie's lap with his arms snaked around her waist and his hands resting on her tummy. The radio was playing quietly in the background.

"I still can't get my head around the fact there's a baby growing inside of me" Rachel said

"Incredible isn't it?"

"Hmm"

They both sat in a comfortable silence for a couple of minutes before Eddie stood up and took Rachel's hand, also pulling her to her feet.

"What are you doing?" Rachel asked as Eddie snaked his arms around Rachel's waist.

"I just like this song" Eddie replied

It wasn't long before they were dancing to the song. Rachel had never really liked dancing, but when she was with Eddie everything was different. She just felt so much more comfortable in herself.

The song ended and they stopped dancing and Rachel rested her head on Eddie's shoulder as they stayed in each other's warm embrace.

The washing machine started to beep. They tried to annoy it to start with but it just became too annoying.

Rachel went into the utility room to get the washing out of the machine. It was strange she thought to herself that a few months ago she was doing washing for just herself, yet now she was doing washing for four.

She spread the washing in the airing cupboard upstairs, got ready for bed and then went to check on Taylor on her way down, her motherly instincts that had always been there with her pupils at school kicking in.

She was surprised to see that Taylor was still awake when she went past.

"Can you not sleep?" Rachel asked

"No" Taylor replied

Rachel went over and perched at the end of Taylor's bed.

"Is there something bothering you?" Rachel asked knowing that she always found it hard to sleep when she had something on her mind.

"Not really. I was just thinking about starting big school in September"

"Well it's a big change you're going to make. But there's going to be lots of people there to help you and you'll be there with all of your friends"

"I know. I just think that I'm going to miss primary school. I was really excited about coming up to your school, but now it's actually happening I don't want to leave"

"Everyone feels that way. But once you're here I think you'll like it so much more. You just get so much more independence because you're becoming that bit more grown up"

"Yeah I think that it will be fine once I'm there"

"Yes, now do you think that you can get to sleep now?"

"Will you stay with me until I go to sleep please?"

"Of course I can"

Taylor turned over and Rachel stroked her hair just watching Taylor until she dropped off into a peaceful sleep. Once she knew that Taylor was asleep she went back downstairs to join Eddie on the sofa.

"You were a while" Eddie said whilst admiring Rachel in her black night dress.

"Taylor couldn't sleep so I sat with her for a bit. But she's dropped off now"

"Is she alright?"

"Yeah, just a bit worried about changing schools. But she's fine"

Rachel sat down on the sofa next to Eddie and started to watch the TV with him. She felt Eddie put his hand onto her thigh, making her tingle. He always had this effect on her with the slightest bit of contact either after all of this time. Slowly Eddie made his way further up Rachel's thigh as their lips locked.

"How about we continue this upstairs?" Eddie suggested

"That sounds like a plan to me Mr Lawson" Rachel giggled


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

_2 months later_

It was the day of Rachel's twelve week scan and they were all really excited about it. Eddie and Taylor had moved in with Rachel and Phil because they practically stayed their all the time anyway.

"Are you going to find out if it's a boy or a girl?" Taylor asked on their way to the hospital

"Well we can't find that out until the 20 week scan, so we'll find out then" Rachel replied

"We will?" Eddie asked thinking that they would wait until the baby was born

"Yeah, it will just make things so much easier. Buying clothes, painting the nursery"

"Ah, I'd rather have it as a surprise"

"But it's more practical to just know"

"Oh fine" Eddie said pretending to sulk after losing the argument. Rachel hit him playfully on the arm.

"Dad did you find out whether I was going to be a boy or a girl before I was born?"

"Yes we did, your mother also wanted to get everything organised before you came along"

Noone knew what to say after this because obviously Taylor's Mum never came home from the hospital, so didn't get to use any of the stuff she'd organised. The silence was finally broken by Taylor.

"Have you thought of any names for the baby yet?"

"I haven't even thought about that yet. I think we're going to need your help Taylor" Rachel replied making Taylor smile.

When they got to the hospital they parked the car, which Eddie had a moan about because the parking was so expensive, and then they went to the maternity section of the hospital.

"Hi, I'm here for my 12 week scan" Rachel said to the lady on reception handing over her folder

"What's your name please?"

"Rachel Mason" Rachel replied. _Something is going to have to be done about that soon, _Eddie thought to himself.

"Okay, if you take a seat over there the midwife will call you in soon"

They went and sat down in the waiting room, Taylor in the middle of Rachel and Eddie.

"Rachel Mason" a lady said as she appeared through a door

The three of them stood up and went into the room where she was.

"Hi, my name's Kate and I'm going to be doing your scan today. If Mum just wants to hop onto the bed for me"

Rachel passed her bag to Eddie, who put it on the chair, and then got onto the hospital bed and laid down. She then pulled her top up revealing her small bump that was starting to form.

"I'm just going to put some gel onto your tummy and it's quite cold"

Kate wasn't wrong when she said it was cold. Rachel felt herself shiver because it was so cold.

The midwife started to move a scanner around Rachel's tummy to build up an image on the monitor.

"I'll be back in two minutes" Kate said causing Rachel to worry a little. She was going to ask if everything was alright but the midwife had already left the room. Before long the Kate returned with a doctor. This made Rachel worry even more, along with Taylor and Eddie.

"Hi Rachel, I'm Dr Tomms" the doctor said picking up the scanner and moving it around Rachel's tummy.

"Right I have some news for you."

"What? Is everything okay?" Rachel asked concern clear in her voice

"Everything is fine with both babies"

"Babies?" Eddie questioned

"Yes, you're having twins. Congratulations" the doctor said before leaving the room

Rachel, Eddie and Taylor couldn't believe it. Kate stood their smiling at their shocked faces, especially Eddie's.

"Wait, so you mean we're having two babies?" Eddie asked

"Yes Dad, that's generally what twins means" Taylor said at her Dad's stupidity causing Rachel to laugh.

"Oh haha, very funny. I just can't believe we're going to have twins"

"Does twins run in either of your families?" Kate asked

"Not in mine" Rachel said

"My Dad has twin brothers" Eddie said

The midwife wiped the gel off Rachel's stomach and then printed off the ultrasound images for them.

The three of them walked back to the car staring at the ultrasound images of the twins.

"The twins" Rachel said

"What about them?" Eddie asked

"It just has a nice ring about it, don't you think?"

"Yeah I guess it does"

They got into the car and drove back to the house, to where Phil and Bolton were. Rachel was really pleased to see that Phil had finally settled in at Waterloo road and made friends. She was even glad about the fact it had to be Bolton and Paul, because she was quite fond of the both of them.

"Hi Rach, how did it go?" Phil asked when they walked into the lounge

"Really good thanks. Do you want to the scan of them?" Rachel replied

"Yes please. Wait a second, them?"

"Yeah, they're having twins Phil"

"So you're going to have two babies?"

"Yes Philip, that's what having twins generally means" Rachel said laughing at how his reaction was exactly the same as Eddie's.

"Wow, that's mint innit. Congratulations Miss, Sir" Bolton said

"Thanks Bolton. But you can call us Rachel and Eddie out of school"

"Thanks"

"Me and Bolton are going out now, we just wanted to see how you got on. See you later" Phil said

As the door slammed Rachel slumped into a chair.

"What do you two want to do today?" Rachel asked

"Zoe asked me if I wanted to sleep at her house tonight, is that okay?" Taylor replied

"Yeah of course love, I can drop you round in later if you like?"

"Thanks Rachel" Taylor said going upstairs to pack her stuff

"So just me and you tonight then Miss Mason, how about we go out for dinner?" Eddie suggested

"That sounds nice" Rachel replied snuggling into Eddie's warm embrace.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Eddie hadn't told Rachel where he was taking Rachel tonight, all he had said was that she might like to dress up a little. She had spend ages trying to decide what to wear but had finally decided to wear a red dress that flared out under the bust, came to just above her knee.

"Rach are you nearly ready?" Eddie called up the stairs

"Yeah, I'll be two minutes" Rachel replied as she quickly tried to find the pair of shoes that she wanted in the mountain that was lying in her wardrobe.

Eddie was looking at his watch when Rachel finally walked down the stairs.

"You look, amazing" Eddie said as Rachel picked her coat and bag up from the banister

"Thanks, you look nice too" Rachel replied "Now can you please tell me where we're going?" Rachel never liked to be kept in the dark, she liked to know exactly what was going on

"Nope, you're just going to have to wait until we get there"

"But Eddie"

"No buts, now come on or we're going to be late"

Eddie took Rachel's hand and they walked out of the door, closing it behind them and down the driveway.

"Are we walking?" Rachel questioned

"Yes we are"

After about a 10 minute walk Rachel and Eddie had arrived at the Italian restaurant that had recently opened in town.

"Eddie are you sure? This place is meant to be really expensive" Rachel asked as they walked through the door

"Well you're worth it" Eddie replied, causing Rachel to smile.

The waiter lead Rachel and Eddie to their seats and passed them a menu. It took a while for Rachel to decide what she wanted because everything sounded so nice, but she eventually decided on one of the pasta dishes.

Rachel and Eddie sat talking for a while talking about something and nothing, something that they always did. They never got bored of each other's conversation.

"Eddie you can have a drink you know, I really don't mind"

"It's okay Rach. I'm happy drinking the same as you"

The waiter brought over their main courses and they both started to tuck in.

"This is so good, I was starving" Rachel said

"Yeah this is delicious" Eddie agreed

Once they had finished eating the waiter took their plates away. The more Eddie thought about what he was going to do, the more nervous he got. _What if she thinks it's too soon? What if she doesn't even want to marry me? _In the end he decided it's something he really wanted, and something he hoped she really wanted, so he decided to just do it.

Eddie stood up from his chair and bent down on one knee, catching the attention of the other people in the rest of the restaurant, and pulled a blue velvet box out of his pocket.

He could've prepared a huge speech telling Rachel how much he loved her, bla de bla de bla, but Eddie didn't plan things. He wanted to take the simple approach because he knew that Rachel already knew that.

"Rachel Mason, will you do the honour of being my wife?" Eddie asked whilst opening the box revealing a beautiful silver ring with a diamond on top. Rachel was gobsmacked. She couldn't believe that Eddie had just proposed to her. She couldn't believe that he wanted her to be his wife. Of course she had dreamt of this moment a million times, but she just never thought that anyone would actually want to ask her. She was suddenly brought back from her thoughts when she realised Eddie was still waiting for her answer.

"Of course I will Eddie" Rachel replied, resulting in a round of applause from the rest of restaurant. Eddie placed the ring delicately onto Rachel's finger. She then stood up and Eddie brushed his lips over hers, resulting in a long and very passionate kiss.

Rachel and Eddie walked home hand in hand, Rachel just gazing at her stunning engagement ring. She could tell it must have cost a fortune.

"Thank you Eddie"

"For what?"

"For proposing to me; buying me this beautiful ring; being the most amazing fiancé that anyone could ever wish for"

"Guilty as charged" Eddie joked causing Rachel to laugh

When they walked back through the front door all of the lights were off, so they presumed Phil was asleep. Rachel really wanted to share her news with someone but decided it would be mean of her to wake him. So they just headed to their bedroom, and had a little celebration between the two of them.

The next morning Rachel headed downstairs to the kitchen but was a bit surprised to see Bolton was there. She was a bit embarrassed because she was wearing her pyjamas.

"Oh hi Bolton, I didn't realise you were staying over last night. I would have got dressed"

"Don't worry about it miss. And sorry, Phil said you wouldn't mind though?"

"Of course I don't mind" Rachel said whilst filling up the kettle to make some coffee. She was very happy that her morning sickness had passed and she could now drink coffee.

That was when Philip noticed the engagement ring on her finger, even though he was still fast asleep.

"Rach, are you and Eddie engaged"

"Yes, he proposed last night" Rachel said with a huge grin on her face as Eddie walked into the kitchen, in just his pants, and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Congratulations you two. I'm really happy for you both" Philip said standing up and giving his Auntie a bit of an awkward hug. He never had been the best at showing affection.

"Thanks Phil. You're Auntie really has made me the happiest man on the planet" Eddie said causing Rachel to blush

"I'm going to go and get dressed and then pick up Taylor. Do you want to come?" Rachel said

"It's still quite early, do you think Taylor will be ready yet?"

"I'm sure she will. I can't wait any longer to tell her. She's going to be so excited" Rachel really couldn't wait to see the little girls face.

"Yeah well I'll come too. She really is going to be so happy"

Once Rachel and Eddie were dressed they drove round to Zoe's and picked up Taylor. They'd made it back into the car without Taylor noticing the ring.

"Taylor, me and Rachel have something we want to tell you" Eddie said with a smile on his face

"What?" Taylor asked

"Well last night you're Dad proposed to me, and I said yes" Rachel said turning around to show Taylor her ring

"Oh my god, really?"

"Yes"

"Huh. That is such a nice ring."

"I know, it's beautiful. Your Dad has very good taste. And there's just one more thing"

"There is?"

"Will you be one of my bridesmaids?"

"I'd love to Rachel."

"Good, because I'm definitely going to need your help"

Rachel and Taylor were so excited to plan the wedding, but Rachel wanted to wait until after the twins were born to have the wedding so she wasn't so big.

**Please review**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The first day of school arrived along with a mixture of excitement and nerves for the new school year ahead. Taylor couldn't wait to start at Waterloo Road but couldn't help but feeling worried about her first day. Rachel wondered what this school year would bring. She knew she had to sort out a lot of things, like what was going to happen when she went on maternity leave. She and Eddie also had to announce to the rest of the school that they were having a baby together, when it was unknown to anyone that they were even together.

Rachel was stood looking in the mirror trying to work out whether her choice of outfit made it obvious that she was pregnant when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in" Rachel called

Taylor walked in with her uniform on all neat with her tie hung around her neck.

"Please can you do my tie up for me please?" Rachel asked

"Of course I can, but I'll have to teach you later or you'll have to keep coming up to my office every time you have PE" Rachel joked walking over to Taylor and doing her tie for her.

"You look lovely in your school uniform, really grown up" Rachel commented knowing her uniform wouldn't look like that for much longer. The year sevens always came up looking really smart but it didn't take long for them to look like the right of the school. But Rachel wasn't the kind of head mistress who made a big deal out of uniform, she was more focused on her pupils education and welfare.

Once the four of them were ready they got into the car and made the familiar route to Waterloo Road. Rachel was expecting a lot of shocked faces when they arrived at school together, however no one really seemed that surprised. Although she thought they had no clue about what was going on with her and Eddie, everyone seemed to see the chemistry between them and knew it wouldn't be long until they got together.

Rachel and Eddie wished both Taylor and Phil good luck on their first day and then made their way up to Rachel's office.

"Eddie, how do you think is best to do this? Do you think we should announce that I'm pregnant in assembly or just let them find out for themselves?"

"I think we should tell them. I know they'll all be so pleased and it's not like we've done anything wrong" Eddie replied

"Okay then, that's what we'll do" Rachel said walking over to Eddie and planting a delicate but passionate kiss onto his lips.

It was soon time for the pair of them to head to assembly.

Rachel walked up onto the stage and Eddie took a seat with the rest of the staff, looking at Rachel admiring her beauty and pregnancy glow.

"Welcome back everyone. I hope you all had a good break and are now all ready to get back into your studies. I'd like to say a special welcome to the year sevens" Rachel began

After about half an hour Rachel was at the end of the assembly and just had one more thing she wanted to say.

"And finally, me and Mr Lawson have something we'd like to share with you all" she said looking at Eddie hinting for him to join her on the stage

Eddie walked up on stage and much to his surprise Rachel held her hand out for him to take. He couldn't believe she was being so open in front of the whole school. A few wolf whistles were heard as they stood on stage gazing into each other's eyes, getting a bit lost in the moment.

At the sound of Steph coughing, as if to make the rest of the school's presence known, Rachel suddenly remembered where she was and turned around to face the crowds blushing slightly.

"Me and Mr Lawson just wanted to let you know that we're expecting a baby"

The hall broke into applause as the whole school truly was overjoyed for their head mistress and deputy. Everyone was overjoyed, except for one person who was stood at the back of the hall having not been noticed by anyone listening to the assembly.

**This is only the first part, I'll post the second part tomorrow. **


	10. Chapter 10

Part 2

It wasn't until just about everyone had cleared out of the hall, including Eddie, after assembly that Rachel noticed her sister stood at the back of the hall. Anger immediately started bubbling up inside of her. Not because of the argument the two sisters had before Mel ran off, but because of the fact that she had just abandoned her son. It wasn't that Rachel minded looking after Philip in the slightest, but she knew how hurt Phil was when his Mum had just left him, again.

Mel had come back to make amends with Rachel and Phil. She had planned to apologise to her sister for the argument they had had, and she wanted to say sorry to Phil and try to show him that from now on she was going to be there for him. But hearing what Rachel had just said about being pregnant with Eddie's baby, was making her feel angry once again.

Mel started to make her way to where Rachel was stood. Despite all of the anger inside of Rachel, she was trying to remain calm.

"You and Eddie having fun playing happy families?" Mel sniggered

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's pretty obvious isn't it. You being the Mum, Eddie the Dad, and then you have MY son and another baby on the way"

"Two babies on the way actually. But I wouldn't say we're playing happy families at all. Phil, your son, was absolutely crushed when you walked out on him. I was the one who was there for him. You weren't. So don't you dare come in here and criticize me." Rachel retaliated

"You must've jumped into bed with Eddie as soon as I left just about"

"It wasn't like that Mel. You knew Eddie had feelings for me but I'd just been too scared to admit it before"

"You lied to me, you told me you didn't have any feelings for Eddie"

"I was just too scared to admit it" Rachel said looking down, feeling ashamed with herself. Her sister was right, she had lied to her.

This was then the argument first started. When Mel tried it on with Eddie, but he turned her down. She then decided to blame it on Rachel for always getting in the way of things.

Rachel felt tears forming in her eyes and Mel was quick to notice this. She felt bad for the things she had just said to her sister.

"I'm sorry Rach, I didn't mean it" Mel said

"I'm the one that should be apologising. You're right I lied to you about Eddie. I did have feelings for him and I should have told you that. But I was just so scared that I ended up lying to you"

"Don't worry about it. I know you Rach, I know you didn't lie to me intentionally" Mel said coming over and wrapping her arm around Rachel's arm. Rachel responded by squeezing her hand.

"I'd really like my sister back, and my son. I've missed you both so much"

"We've really missed you too. But I think you have a lot of making up to do with Phil you know. I'm not getting at you, but where have you been for the last six months?"

"Well I was all over the place for the first three months, not knowing what I was doing. But after that I realised that I needed to do something with my life and get myself sorted. So I moved to a town about half an hour from here and I got a job working in a book shop. It's not a lot but it's enough to help me by. But I've really grown up in these last three months Rach. I promise, I really have. But most of all I realised how much I've let my son down, and I know now that I'm going to do everything I can to be there for my son."

"I just hope you mean that Mel"

"I do, I really do. If he wants to carry on living with you then I don't blame him. You've probably been a better Mum for him in the last six months than I've ever been. But I'm hoping that he'll move back in with me and we'll find somewhere to live close to you"

"Well I'd really like to open the adult education up again. So if you want it, I'm offering you your old job back"

"Really?"

"Yes, really Mel. You did a great job before you left and I hope that you can do an even better job this time"

"Thank you Rachel, you have no idea how much this means to me" Mel said pulling Rachel in for a much needed hug. Tears trickling down both of the sisters cheeks.

Rachel asked Phil to go up to her office at break to see Melissa, where after a while the two of them did make up. Rachel said that they could stay with her for a bit until they found somewhere of their own.

Taylor was feeling a bit unsure of Melissa. Although she seemed really nice, she just wasn't sure after what she did to Philip. But if Rachel had managed to forgive her then she was going to be nice to her and not cause her any trouble.

**Sorry if this was a bit boring, but I wanted to bring Mel into it and give Rachel the sister that she deserves. Please review**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 10

It was a Sunday and the family were glad to have the house back to themselves. They'd loved having Melissa stay with them for a few weeks but now it was nice to just be them again, minus Philip. They'd helped Mel and Phil move into their new two- bedroom house yesterday that was just down the road. Rachel was so happy to have her sister back again, and they seemed to be getting on really well.

"I'm just going to go and get a drink" Taylor said

Just as she was walking out of the lounge she got a sharp pain in her stomach and winced in pain.

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked concerned for Taylor

"Yeah, but I keep getting these stomach cramps" Taylor replied walking into the kitchen to get a drink

"What are we doing today?" Taylor asked once she was back in the lounge.

"Well the weather is pretty miserable so me and your Dad were thinking we could go out for a bit of lunch and then go to the cinema?" Rachel suggested looking out of the window at the rain that was coming down very heavily.

"Yay. Please please please can we go and see Grown Ups?" Taylor asked

"I don't see why not" Rachel replied "but you'd better go and get dressed first"

Taylor went upstairs and quickly got ready and then went back down to the kitchen to tell Rachel and Eddie that she was ready. Rachel noticed her holding her stomach.

"Is your stomach hurting again?" Rachel asked

"Yeah, it's really sore" Taylor replied

"Why don't you try taking a painkiller, that might help?" Rachel suggested

"Okay then"

Rachel got some painkillers for Taylor and then the three of them headed out for the day. When they got home Taylor was feeling really tired so after tea she had a bath and then had an early night.

She woke up in the middle of the night because her stomach was hurting a lot. She got out of bed because she was going to go and ask if she could have some more painkillers. That's when she noticed the blood all over sheets.

Taylor rushed into the bathroom and pulled her pyjama bottoms to see that they were all covered in blood. She started to cry a bit because she really wasn't expecting to get her period so early, she was only 11. She didn't know what to do as she really wanted to get Rachel but she knew if she did she was bound to wake Eddie as well.

But in the end Taylor decided that she really did need Rachel so crept along the landing to her and Eddie's bedroom. She tiptoed round to Rachel's side of the bed and tried to wake her. Much to her dismay Eddie was already awake.

"Are you alright Taylor?" Eddie asked

"Yes, but I just need Rachel"

"Well she's asleep, can't I help you?"

"No I really need Rachel" Taylor replied as more tears started to fall from her eyes

Rachel had began to stir and was aware that Taylor was stood next to her now.

"Hey, what's up sweetie?" Rachel asked concerned

"Please can I talk to you?" Taylor replied

"Of course you can" Rachel replied getting out of bed and following Taylor into her bedroom, wondering what was bothering her.

"I think my periods might have started. I woke up because my stomach was really hurting and there was blood all over my sheets" Taylor said, worry apparent in her voice

Rachel could see how worried and upset she looked so went over and pulled Taylor into her chest. She wasn't expecting Taylor to start her periods yet, but then again Taylor had developed quite a bit recently.

"It's nothing to worry about. I know it probably seems like a bit of a shock but you will get used to it. How about you change your pyjama bottoms whilst I change your sheets, and then we can have a little chat about it downstairs? I think there are some pads in the cupboard in the bathroom"

"Okay" Taylor replied feeling a lot better after telling Rachel.

Rachel changed the sheets on Taylor's bed and then walked downstairs to put the dirty sheets into the wash. She heard someone coming down the stairs and turned around to see that it was Eddie.

"What was wrong with Taylor?" Eddie asked

"Her periods have started."

"But she's still so young, she's only 11"

"I wasn't a lot older than her when I first got mine. Don't worry she'll be fine, go back to bed"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, we're just going to have a little chat and then I'll be up"

"Okay"

"Eddie"

"Yes

"I love you"

"I love you too"

A little while later Taylor came back downstairs and sat on one of the brown leather sofa's with Rachel.

"How are you feeling?" Rachel asked. Taylor started to cry again.

Rachel saw this so pulled the girl into her chest.

"I promise you will get used to it. I can remember feeling exactly how you're feeling now when I first started mine, but it didn't take me long to get used to it."

"I know, but none of my friends have started their periods yet and I don't want to be the only one" Taylor sobbed

"Oh love. Trust me it will happen to them soon too. It's something every girl has to go through and it's really not that bad."

"Thanks Rachel"

"For what?"

"For being there for me. I don't know what I would have done if it wasn't for you, I could never talk to Dad about this kind of stuff"

"I'm glad I can help you" Rachel smiled squeezing Taylor's hand

"Are you going to tell Dad?"

"I already have. He came down and asked me what was wrong earlier, but don't worry he won't make things awkward between the two of you" Rachel replied reading Taylor's mind.

"Okay" Taylor said as a yawn came out of her mouth

"Are you ready to go back to bed?"

"Yeah" Taylor replied getting on the sofa and walking upstairs.

Rachel followed her up and kissed her forehead before leaving and going back to Eddie.

**Please review, it makes my day xxx**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 11

It was the following weekend and Rachel and Taylor were food shopping. Rachel and Eddie had agreed to let her have her best friends, Olivia and Daisy, over from school for a sleepover tonight.

"So what do you want to eat tonight?" Rachel asked

"Please could we get some pizzas?" Taylor replied

"Course you can"

"Oh and dough balls" Taylor added

Next they went to the DVD isle because Rachel had said that she could pick out a DVD for tonight. Taylor saw Wild Child, which was a film that she'd been wanting to see for ages now.

"Please can we get this one?"

"I don't know love, it's a twelve" Although Taylor was allowed to watch 12s, Rachel was a bit wary because she didn't know if Taylor's friends would be allowed.

"Please, I'm sure Olivia and Daisy would be allowed to watch it"

"Okay, but I'm going to ask their parents first" Rachel agreed

Once they'd got everything else they needed they paid and got back in the car.

"Has your period stopped now?" Rachel asked

"Yeah it stopped yesterday"

"How are you feeling about it now?"

"Okay I guess. I don't really like it but I guess it's just something I'm going to have to put up with"

"I'm afraid so. Did you tell Olivia and Daisy about it?"

"Yeah and I'm glad I did, they were really supportive"

"I thought they would be" Rachel replied glad that Taylor didn't seem so upset about having started her periods so early now

They soon arrived back at the house and were met at the car by Eddie.

"Such a gentleman Eddie" Rachel commented as Eddie lifted the majority of the shopping bags out of the boot. She then took the rest and they walked into the house.

Rachel and Eddie unpacked the shopping whilst Taylor went up to her room to give it a bit of a tidy up before her friends arrived.

Eddie paused momentarily from unpacking the shopping and just started gazing at Rachel. He didn't know how it was possible for her to get even more beautiful, but her pregnancy glow really had done just that. Eddie didn't even realise that Rachel had caught him.

"What are you looking at?" Rachel asked throwing a tea towel at him

"You and how beautiful you're" Eddie replied causing Rachel to blush.

She then walked over to him and snaked her arms around his neck.

"So what do you want to do tonight then, soon as it's just the two of us?" Rachel asked

"How about I cook, and then we can just watch a DVD or something?" Eddie suggested

"That sounds nice, we'll have to watch the DVD in bed though because Taylor's sleeping in the lounge tonight"

"Typical. Having to go to bed because of your 11 old daughter"

"Well I can think of plenty of other reasons why you may want to go to bed" Rachel said seductively

Eddie smiled, already looking forward to tonight. He placed a gently kiss on her lips, which she responded to. Rachel was beginning to deepen the kiss just as Taylor walked into the kitchen. Although she didn't mind, Taylor did feel a little embarrassed.

"Dad" Taylor said causing them to break apart and blush furiously.

"Sorry love, didn't realise you were there" Eddie said

"It's okay. I just came to tell you that Daisy and Olivia will be here in about half an hour"

"Okay, did you tidy up your bedroom?" Rachel asked

"Yes"

It wasn't long before Olivia and Daisy arrived and they all went up to Taylor's bedroom.

Rachel had just been to the toilet, yet again,. Being pregnant was making her have to wee a lot more than usual. She couldn't help but smile at the three girls laughing together and having such a great time as she walked past Taylor's room.

Rachel shouted to the girls to come down for the dinner, who then entered the kitchen looking very red.

"You look very hot girls, what've you been doing?" Rachel asked

"Making up a dance, please can we show you later?" Taylor replied

"We'd love to see it, wouldn't we Eddie"

"Yeah"

"Thanks for dinner Miss Mason, it was lovely" Daisy said

"Yeah thank you" Olivia replied

"My pleasure girls. But you can call me Rachel when we're not at school you know?" Rachel replied.

"Okay Rachel" Daisy said

It felt weird having such personal relationships with her pupils. Even though she'd always pretty close relationships with her pupils, as far as school relationships can go, it was different actually having them at her house. But she liked it all the same, especially soon as it meant Taylor was having such a great time.

The girls went back up to Taylor's room to finish practising their dance whilst Rachel stacked the dishwasher and Eddie started preparing his and Rachel's dinner.

"Is it weird living with Rachel, when she's your head mistress?" Olivia asked

"No not really because I knew her before she became my head mistress. So what's weirder is having to call her Miss Mason at school" Taylor replied

"I guess"

The girls perfected their dance and then went to show it to Rachel and Eddie. They were both really impressed by how well the girls could move.

"Maybe you should start a dance group at school girls" Rachel said once they'd finished "some girls did it last year, and ended up coming third in a regional competition.

"How do we do that?"

"Well I think you have to have a group of at least 6, and then you can see if Miss Granger will let you use the dance studio a couple of times a week" Rachel replied

The girls were quite taken by this idea and went back upstairs thinking about who else they could ask to be in the group.

A little while later Rachel went to check on the girls who's just began to get into their pyjamas.

"Oh, sorry girls I didn't realise you were getting changed"

"It's okay. Rachel, is it okay if we put the film on downstairs now?" Taylor asked

"Yeah of course. If you bring your quilt and pillow down in a minute, I've got all of the rest down there. And all of the snacks are on the table on the kitchen"

"Thanks Rachel"

"That's alright love, I just want you to have fun. Please don't be too late to sleep" Rachel said but she knew they would most probably be awake until the early hours of the morning.

Rachel then went into her and Eddie's bedroom for a little fun of their own.

**Please review xxx**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 12

The following day Olivia and Daisy left at about 11 as Eddie's Mum and Dad were coming round for lunch. Rachel was in her bedroom getting ready when Taylor appeared at the doorway.

"Oh Taylor, will you please help me decide what to wear?" Rachel asked. Taylor could tell how nervous Rachel was about meeting Eddie's parents for the first time.

"Urmm, why don't you wear that new dress you bought the other day?"

"But you can kind of see my bump in that dress, and we haven't told them about the babies yet. How about this?" Rachel said holding up a pair of jeans and a nice top in front of her.

"That will look really nice. You don't need to be worried you know, Grandma and Grandad will love you." Taylor tried to comfort Rachel. Taylor was quite mature only eleven years old, but Rachel thought that might be because she'd had to grow up without a Mum.

"But what if they don't and what if they aren't happy about me having your Dad's babies"

"They will like you though, and of course they're going to be pleased about having two more grand children. They love being grandparents" Taylor replied going over and giving Rachel a hug.

Rachel then got changed and the two of them headed downstairs to find Eddie all hot and flustered having just carved the meat.

"I'll take over now love, you go and get changed. Thanks for your help"

"No problem." Eddie replied giving Rachel a gentle kiss.

It wasn't long before the doorbell went. The butterflies in Rachel's stomach got worse and she started to feel really hot. Rachel had never really done the whole meeting the boyfriends parents thing. She'd never admitted it to anyone other than Eddie, but she'd never been in a relationship that had got to that level.

Of course, there was no reason for Rachel to be panicking. Eddie's parents, Sally and John, were two of the loveliest people that she would ever meet. Ever since Eddie had told them about Rachel they'd be dying to meet her, but Rachel had been putting it off because she was worried they wouldn't like her.

Rachel took her apron off and made smoothed down her hair before going out in the hallway to join Taylor and Eddie who were greeting Sally and John.

"Hi dear, you must be Rachel" Sally said

Rachel went up to her and gave her a brief hug, all of her previous anxiousness and worry gone all of a sudden.

"Yes, and you must be Sally"

"It's so good to finally meet you, you and Taylor are all Eddie ever speaks of so it's nice to put a face to the name"

Rachel was then greeted by John, who gave her a small peck on the cheek.

They all moved into their lounge where Rachel was bombarded by several questions by Sally. But she was expecting it really.

"Taylor, why don't you tell Grandma and Grandad your plants to start a dance club" Eddie suggested trying to get the attention away from Rachel. They of course were very interested in what Taylor had to say as they loved their granddaughter to bits.

Rachel went into the kitchen to start dishing out the lunch, and Eddie was quick to follow.

"Sorry about the interrogation" Eddie said snaking his arms around Rachel's waist

"It's okay, I honestly don't mind. They're so lovely Eddie, I really don't know what I was so worried about"

"See, I told you had nothing to worry about. And like I said, they love you"

It wasn't long before they were all sat around the table tucking into their roast chicken.

"Mum, Dad we have something we want to tell you" Eddie said taking hold of Rachel's hand under the table.

"What is it son?" John asked

"Rachel's pregnant"

"Congratulations you two, I really am so happy for you" John said genuinely

"This is so wonderful, but I have to say I did already know"

"How did you know?" Taylor asked

"Well I didn't know, I just guessed. Mother's instinct" Sally said "and it will be so lovely for Taylor to have a brother or sister"

"Well actually, I'm pregnant with twins" Rachel exclaimed

"It does run in the family I guess" Sally said

After lunch they went into the lounge all feeling very full up. They chatted for a while before it was time for John and Sally to go home. Rachel felt so relieved having met them now, she really wished she'd done it sooner now.

Rachel went into the kitchen and did a few final dishes thinking about something Sally had said earlier. _You really have been an excellent Mum to Taylor over the past few months. _

She supposed that she was a motherly figure in Taylor's life and she was glad that she got to be there for her. She wondered how Taylor saw her, whether she saw her as a sort of Mum.

Rachel was brought out of her thoughts by Taylor walking into the kitchen.

"Are you alright love, you look a bit pale?" Rachel asked

"I'm not really feeling very well. I'm all cold and achy" Rachel felt her head and she actually felt as though she was burning up.

"Why don't you go and get into our bed, and I'll bring you up some medicine and then we'll put a film on" Rachel suggested

"Thanks Mum. I- I mean Rachel" Taylor said. She couldn't believe she'd just called Rachel Mum. She hadn't done it intentionally, it sort of just slipped off of her tongue. But it had felt kind of right.

Rachel was about to reply but Taylor had already ran upstairs, feeling embarrassed. Rachel felt her eyes beginning to well up with happiness. If Taylor was happy about it, she was more than happy for Taylor to call her Mum. She decided to give her a few minutes to space to think about what had just happened before she went up to check on her.

She went upstairs to find Taylor on hers and Eddie's bed crying into a pillow. Rachel went and sat next to her on the bed and pulled her so that her head was resting on Rachel's chest as she stroked her hair. Taylor stopped crying.

"I'm sorry for what I just said. I don't know why I said it, it kind of just slipped out"

"If you feel you want to call me Mum, I'm more than happy for you to call me that."

"Really?"

"Yes. You have no idea how happy you just made me when you called me Mum." Rachel said wiping away a few stray tears from Taylor's cheek.

"Okay then, Mum" Taylor said smiling at Rachel

"Right then, what film are we going to watch then?"

"Can we watch parent trap, I was going through you're DVDs the other day and I don't think I've ever seen it"

"You've never seen parent trap? It's one of my favourite films"

Rachel got into her pyjamas and then the two of them snuggled up in bed together and watched the film. Taylor was so pleased she now had a Mum to do little things like this with.

**Please let me know what you think xxx**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Eddie walked into his and Rachel's bedroom to find Rachel sat with her head in her hands making muffled sounds.

"Rach, are you crying?" Eddie asked perching on the bed next to her

"I'm sorry. I've just been so emotional lately. All I did was put my pyjama top on inside out" Rachel replied snuggling into Eddie's chest

"It's just your hormones Rach. At least it's coming out as tears. When Allison was pregnant with Taylor she just got angry with me all the time"

They both sat in silence for a few moments before Rachel spoke.

"Do you miss her?"

"I used to. Like when Taylor was younger. But mainly because I thought that Taylor was missing out on not having a Mum. I felt like I was letting Taylor down because she didn't have a Mum to do all of the things that Mum's normally do. I did miss her, but I wasn't completely heartbroken because I don't think I was ever truly in love with her"

It was nice for Rachel to hear Eddie opening up to her about Allison. Usually when she brought her up he just changed the subject.

"You've done an amazing job with Taylor. She really is such a lovely girl."

"I'm glad she's got you now. You've been so good to her, you really have"

"Did you know she called me Mum last night?"

"No I didn't. Are you okay with that?"

"Of course I am. I was delighted that she really does see me as her Mum. Over the last few months I knew I'd been a motherly figure to her, but I never knew she actually considered me to be her Mum"

The two of them sat chatting for a bit longer before Rachel put her pyjama top on the right way round and they headed downstairs.

Rachel walked into the lounge to see Taylor sat on the sofa with eastenders on, but she could tell she wasn't really watching it.

"Are you alright love? You've been ever so quiet ever since you got in from school" Rachel asked sitting next to Taylor on the sofa.

"I'm fine" Taylor replied but Rachel could tell from the sound of her voice that something was bothering her.

"You know you can tell me anything"

"I said I'm fine" Taylor snapped "sorry, I'm just a bit tired. I think I'm going to go up to bed"

"Okay, I'll come up in a minute and say good night"

Like she'd said she would, a few minutes later Rachel went upstairs to say good night to Taylor. Taylor was lying on her bed, not undressed yet, hugging a cushion to her chest and staring up to the ceiling.

Rachel went and sat by her on the bed when she noticed the tears starting to pool in Taylor's eyes, so she pulled her into her chest. The tears started to fall freely down her cheeks as Rachel ran her fingers through her hair. Rachel just let her cry into her, which was something she clearly needed to do.

"Are you going to tell me what's got you so upset, huh?" Rachel coaxed after a few minutes

"It's so stupid, I don't even know why I'm crying about it"

"Well it's clearly something, or you wouldn't be crying"

"We got the letter from school today about the injection that we have to have next Wednesday"

Rachel knew that the school nurse was giving injections to all of the year seven girls next Wednesday, but she had no idea that it would bother Taylor so much.

"It will be okay. It might hurt for a few seconds or so, but then it will be all over. Please don't worry about it"

"It's not the pain that worries me, I just hate having injections."

"I'll come down when it's your turn if you like, and come and hold your hand"

"Thank you. You must think I'm so silly getting myself worked up over something so little"

"Of course I don't think you're silly. I used to get myself all worked up about going to the doctors when I was your age"

"What if I pass out, like I normally do, and then everyone will think I'm a baby"

"You normally pass out?"

"Yeah, the doctor said it's because I get myself so worked up"

"Oh honey, it will be okay. I'll be there with you the whole time, I promise"

"Thanks Rachel"

"That's okay. Now do you want to come back downstairs and watch a bit of TV with me and your Dad before you go to sleep?"

"Yes please, I'll just put my pyjamas on first though"

"Okay love"

Rachel had no idea that Taylor had such a phobia of injections.

The three of them watched TV for a bit before Taylor went up to bed, and Rachel and Eddie weren't long behind her.

The next morning Rachel woke up feeling extremely sick. It wasn't long before you had to rush to the loo to be sick. Eddie heard her so went in and held her hair back for her, whilst stroking her back.

"I'm so fed up of this Eddie" Rachel said once she had finished being sick.

"I know. And if I could do it all for you, I would"

Rachel laughed before thinking about just how easy men do actually have it. They don't have to have periods, or morning sickness, they don't have to have their body stretched or give birth.

Rachel got in the shower, which took a lot longer than normal as Eddie decided to join her.

"We're running late now because of you" Rachel said rummaging through her wardrobe trying to pick out something to wear

"Sorry, but you have to admit it was a pretty good way to start the day" Eddie winked

"It most certainly was"

Once Rachel was dressed she went in and woke Taylor up. She felt bad for waking her when she looked so peaceful.

"Ahh, do I have to go to school today" Taylor moaned

"Yes, now up now" Rachel said pulling the quilt off Taylor

Rachel was surprised to see that Taylor had only slept in a top and knickers.

"What happened to your bottoms?"

"I was way too hot last night, so I took them off?"

"Are you still not feeling too good?" Rachel asked

She'd had the day off on Monday as she was feeling poorly, but she felt a lot better on Tuesday so she'd gone back to school. But now Rachel was beginning to wonder if they'd sent her back too soon.

"No not really"

"I think you ought to have another day off school then, I'll give Grandma and Grandad a ring"

"Okay"

"What's wrong, what's making you feel poorly?" Rachel asked

"I keep going from boiling hot to freezing cold, and my ear really hurts"

"Maybe we'll see if we can get you a doctor's appointment then"

Rachel and Eddie dropped Taylor to Sally and John's on the way to school before Rachel made an appointment. Rachel managed to slip out to take her to the doctors just before lunch time and it turned out that she had an ear infection. So she was given some antibiotics.

**Please review**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

**A couple of months later **

Rachel was walking through the maths corridor at Waterloo Road with one hand resting on her swollen stomach. She was now six months pregnant and enjoying every stage of her pregnancy. She smiled at Eddie as she walked past his class room, and he returned the smile.

Eddie's smile soon faded as his face drowned in worry. He quickly rushed out of his classroom at the sight of Rachel looking as though she was in pain.

"Rach, is everything alright?" Eddie asked concern in his voice

"Everything's fine Eddie. One of the babies kicked, that's all" Rachel chuckled along with the rest of Eddie's class who had been watching the whole thing.

"Oh, I thought there was something wrong"

"Honestly Eddie, you're so dramatic. Now shouldn't you be teaching?"

"Yes miss" Eddie said mock saluting her, before returning to his year 10s.

Rachel began to feel rather tired again, she always felt tired these days, so decided to return to her office so that she could sit down. She was trying to get on with some paperwork but her mind kept wondering. She kept picturing things in her mind of what things would like when the twins arrived. A smile crept upon her face at the thought of her family, their family.

She was interrupted from her thoughts by a knock at the door.

"Come in" Rachel said picking up a pen to make it look as though she was actually working

Rachel was surprised to see that it was Taylor that was at the door, and she could tell Taylor was upset about something.

"Is everything alright?" Rachel asked although she already knew the answer

"No not really"

"Why don't you sit down on the sofa and we can have a little chat?" Rachel suggested standing up from behind her desk and going over to join Taylor on the sofa.

"You going to tell me what happened then?"

"You know Matt Thorp?"

"Yes"

"Well he asked to borrow a pen. And I said he could get one out of my bag, but I forgot that I had some pads in there and he took them out and showed them to everyone." Taylor said, referring to the pads that Rachel had suggested she kept in her bag so that she was prepared.

"Oh love, come here. That wasn't very nice of Matt. But do you know why he did it?" Rachel said pulling Taylor into her chest and stroking her hair.

"Why?"

"Because boys are silly and immature. You just need to show him that it doesn't bother you and that you're a lot more grown up than what he is"

"But everyone knows that I've started my periods now"

"That doesn't matter. All the girls in your class will start their periods soon too. In fact, I bet some of them already have"

"I do know someone else who has"

"Well there you go then. What lesson were you in?"

"French with Miss Haydock."

"Okay, well I'll write you a note. Are you okay to go back to class now?" Rachel asked, which Taylor responded to by nodding

Rachel handed the note to Taylor who then walked back to her class, feeling a lot better after talking to Rachel.

At the end of the day Taylor met Rachel and Eddie by the car. They were going late night shopping tonight to get some stuff for the twins.

"This one's really nice" Taylor said pointing to one of the prams in mamas and papas.

"Yeah, that's really nice" Rachel said coming over and putting her hands on the bar.

"What do you think Eddie?"

"It's lovely" Eddie replied, not really understanding why the girls found shopping for a pram so important and interesting.

They decided to order the pram as it was Rachel's favourite and they really need to get it ready now. Just as they were walking out of the shop Rachel felt the baby kick.

"Taylor quick, pass me your hand" Rachel said

Rachel took Taylor's hand and placed it on the spot on her bump where one of the babies was kicking. Taylor hadn't felt it kick yet, every time she missed it somehow. But this time she was pleased because she did feel it.

"That feels really weird" Taylor commented

"Try having it kick your stomach"

They carried on shopping for a bit longer before deciding to go for something to eat. They went to a Chinese buffet as Rachel had been craving Chinese food for quite a while.

Once they'd finished Taylor needed the loo so she went out the door, but then she decided she didn't want to go on her own, so went back to the table.

"That was quick" Eddie said

"I haven't been yet. Please will you come with me Rachel, I don't want to go on my own?" Taylor asked

"Of course I can. I could do with going anyway"

The two of them walked out of the door and Rachel could see why Taylor didn't want to go on her own. It did look quite scary down there.

"I really don't understand how the babies are going to get out. It just doesn't seem possible to push a baby out of your... you know. It seems too small" Taylor said as they were washing their hands

"It's a bit like that. But when I go into labour it will stretch so that the twins can come out"

"Will it hurt?"

"I think it will hurt a lot. But unless I have a caesarean, which I don't really want, there's no other way of getting them out"

"I don't think I'm going to have children, because then I won't have to give birth" Taylor said causing Rachel to laugh

"I would hope you weren't planning on having any children any time soon. But you might change your mind when you're older"

"Are you excited about when the twins arrive?"

"Yeah I can't wait to meet them. But I'm not ready for you to come out quite yet" Rachel said looking down talking to her bump. "are you excited?"

"Yeah, I can't wait to be a big sister"

Rachel and Taylor went back up to Eddie and walked back to the car to go home.

**Please review **


	16. Chapter 16

**2 months later **

Chapter 16

At eight months pregnant it was fair to say that Rachel Mason was rather large. And she felt it. Although she loved being pregnant, she was beginning to get a bit fed up. Everything was becoming such a struggle, even going to the loo took an awful lot of effort.

It was a Saturday afternoon and Rachel and Eddie had just got back from shopping. They'd got just about everything they needed for the babies now and they were all really excited to meet them.

Rachel was very tired out from all of the shopping so was lying down whilst Eddie unpacked the shopping.

"Aww, these are cute. I don't remember us buying these" Eddie said holding up two bibs, one saying I love Mummy and the other saying I love Daddy.

"I bought them when I went into M&S, whilst you were picking a DVD for tonight"

Eddie carried on unpacking until he came across some underwear.

"Urmm Rach, I don't think the babies will need these for a few years yet, and we don't even know if we're having a girl yet" Eddie said and Rachel giggled.

"They're for me silly. My boobs have grown so much lately, but I'm sure you've already noticed that" Rachel said blushing slightly

"Where do you want them?"

"Could you put them in my underwear please?"

Once Eddie had put all of the things away they went downstairs into the lounge and it wasn't long before Taylor arrived home. She'd been ice skating today for her friend's Birthday.

"Hiya love, did you have a nice day?" Rachel asked when Taylor walked into the lounge

"Yeah it was really fun thanks. But I did fall over and I think I'm going to have a huge bruise tomorrow. How was your day?" Taylor replied

"It was lovely, a bit tired now though. I'll show you all of the things we bought later"

"Mum, do you think one of the babies is a girl?" Taylor asked

Although Rachel originally wanted to find out if the sexes of the babies, in the end her and Eddie decided to keep it a surprise.

"I honestly don't know. I would quite like to have at least one girl, but I honestly don't mind as long as they're both healthy. Why?"

"I'd just really like a little sister. But I guess I wouldn't mind if it was two brothers"

"Well I could always try and take one back if they are both boys" Rachel said causing Taylor to laugh

Eddie shouted to the girls that dinner was ready. Eddie had been cooking a lot over the last few months as Rachel was normally too tired to do it.

They were about half way through their meal when Rachel got a shooting pain in her stomach, which made her drop her knife and fork instantly.

"Rach, what's wrong?" Eddie asked jumping out of his seat and moving around so that he was stood next to Rachel.

"I don't know Eddie. It really hurts and feel how tight my tummy is" Rachel replied taking Eddie's hand and placing it over her stomach.

The pain lasted for about 30 seconds and then stopped.

"Do you think I should call the midwife?" Rachel asked

"How about we just go to the hospital? It's Saturday night and the out of hours midwife always takes ages to get back to us"

"Yeah, that's probably best. Do you want to go to Mel's or Grandma and Grandad's Taylor?"

"Can't I come with you?" Taylor asked clearly worried about Rachel and the babies

"We don't know how long we're going to be though" Eddie said

"Well how about we go and see what they say, and then you can always take her somewhere if I'm going to be a while?" Rachel suggested

"Yeah okay"

They all got their coats and scarves on, as it was the middle of winter so very cold, and got in the car. Rachel got another shooting pain in her stomach on the way to hospital. She was trying to remain calm, for Taylor's sake, but inside she was panicking that something was wrong. But even more so that the babies were coming early. She knew that babies could survive at 35 weeks but she still worried about them being born prematurely.

Eddie supported Rachel as they walked into reception. They explained what was going on to the lady at reception and Rachel was then taken into a room at the hospital.

She had a few tests run and was put on a monitor.

"Is everything alright?" Rachel asked, desperate to know what's going on

"Everything's fine. You're suffering from something called Braxton Hicks" the doctor said as relief flooded through Rachel, Eddie and Taylor. "which is basically false contractions. It is your uterus contracting but don't worry you haven't got into labour"

"So can I go home?" Rachel asked, she really didn't like hospitals

"Yes, I don't see why not. I'll just get the discharge forms. But if you have any more problems come straight back and made sure you're taking it easy"

"Thanks doctor" Eddie said

Rachel was relieved to be back home again, and not having the babies quite yet. Although she had been moaning about her pregnancy earlier, she wasn't ready for it to end quite yet.

When they were back Taylor painted Rachel's fingernails and toenails for her because she was couldn't reach over the top of her bump. When she'd finished they noticed that Eddie had fallen asleep.

"I've got an idea" Rachel said quietly so that they didn't wake Eddie

"What?"

"Go and get my make up bag of my hand bag, it's on the stairs"

Taylor went and got Rachel's make up bag and then they both gave Eddie a bit of a makeover. They put lipstick and blusher on him and they couldn't stop giggling at how funny he looked.

Eddie stayed sleeping for another half an hour before Rachel woke him suggesting they all went up to bed. Although both were finding it quite difficult they managed to keep a straight face so that Eddie wouldn't suspect anything.

It wasn't until Eddie walked out of the lounge that he noticed his reflection in the mirror.

"What've you done to me?" Eddie turned around so he was facing the two partners in crime

"Well we didn't want you to feel left out, so we gave you a bit of a makeover"

"Did you not? Well watch out girls, who knows what I'll do to you"

The three of them the retreated upstairs to bed.

"Eddie, what are you doing?" Rachel called from the bed as Eddie had been in the bathroom for ages

"Trying to get this bloody lipstick off. It's stuck" Eddie said making Rachel giggle

"Maybe I could kiss it off" Rachel suggested

"That sounds like a very good idea to me"

Eddie walked out of the ensuite with the lipstick stained on his lips, before jumping onto the bed beside Rachel and kissing her gently. Rachel soon deepened it as the kiss became more passionate.

**Do you want Rachel to have the twins in the next chapter, or do you want a bit more of her pregnancy?**


	17. Chapter 17

**1 month later**

Chapter 17

Although Rachel's due date was only a week away she was still working. Despite all of the people trying to persuade her to go on maternity leave she had decided she wanted to work for as long as possible. She also didn't want to be at home on her own when the twins arrived.

She'd been sat down doing paper work for a little while but was beginning to get a little fidgety so decided to take a walk around the school. As it was break time most people were outside so she decided to join them.

She walked up to Eddie, who was on playground duty, from behind making him jump as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Eddie leant in to kiss her, which was quite a struggle these days because of her very large bump. Eventually their lips met causing a lot of wolf whistling to be heard from the pupils.

The bell for the start of lessons soon went and everyone rushed inside. Rachel waited outside for the few stragglers to make their way in, those being Bolton, Paul and her own Nephew Philip.

"Hurry up boys, less..." Rachel began to say but was soon stopped as she got a pain in her stomach.

"Rach are you okay?" Phil asked as the three boys ran up to her

"Yeah, I'm fine. Now come on, get to your lessons" Rachel said once the pain had stopped

Rachel didn't really think anything of it and slowly waddled back to her office. She was about halfway up the stairs when she got another pain in her stomach, making her wonder if the babies were maybe on their way.

She continued the journey to her office once the pain had stopped and asked Bridget to get Eddie for her.

Bridget knocked on the door to Eddie's classroom.

"Come in"

"Miss Mason would like to speak to you in her office" Bridget informed her

"Okay, I'll be right there. Carry on with exercise 3A and I'll be back as soon as I can" Eddie said before rushing up to Rachel's office, asking Bridget if she knew why Rachel wanted to speak to him on the way.

"No, sorry Eddie. She just said she wanted to see you"

Rachel stood up from the sofa she had previously been sitting on after seeing Eddie enter the office.

"Eddie, I think the twins are coming" Rachel said worry etched in her voice

Eddie rushed over to her and held her tight just as a huge puddle started to form at their feet.

"I think my waters may just have broken" Rachel said stating the obvious

"Oh Rachel, this is really happening" Eddie said all colour draining from his cheeks

Rachel guided Eddie over to the sofa as she feared he might faint.

"Everything's going to be okay Eddie. We're going to phone for an ambulance and they're going to take me to hospital with all of the nurses and doctors" Rachel said trying to calm Eddie down

"Yes, yes of course. Sorry Rach. It should be the other way around, me trying to calm you down" Eddie said standing up and taking hold of Rachel's hands as another contraction started.

"Bridget, please could you call an ambulance. The twins are coming" Eddie asked Bridget

"It hurts, Eddie" Rachel said whilst squeezing Eddie's hand quite hard because the pain was becoming more intense.

"They want to speak to you Rachel" Bridget said coming in and passing the phone over to Rachel

Rachel answered all of the questions whilst wincing in pain because she was still having a contraction.

"I'd say they're about two minutes apart" Rachel said before saying goodbye and hanging up the phone

"What's wrong Rach?" Eddie asked after seeing Rachel's facial features drop

"They said that my contractions aren't very far apart at all, so they don't think it's going to be long before the babies come. Why's it happening so fast Eddie? Make it slow down" Rachel said tears beginning to pool in her eyes

"It's going to be fine Rach, I promise you."

"They said to get some towels and hot water and stuff because they might have to deliver the them in here"

"Okay. You lie down on the sofa and I'll get Bridget to go and get Kim to get the stuff"

Eddie stayed by Rachel's side helping her through each contraction, which were now very close together and very intense.

"Rachel, are you okay?" Kim asked rushing in with some towels and a bowl full of water

"I don't think they're going to be much longer and there's no one here yet" Rachel said clearly very panicked

"It will be okay Rach" Kim said coming over and taking over from Eddie from a bit, whilst he rang the paramedics to see where they were. Rachel squeezed her hand very tightly as another contraction came.

"Kim they want us to see if we can see the head"

"Okay, do you want me to look?"

"Yes please" Eddie replied

Eddie took hold of Rachel's hand again while Kim looked under the towel that was now wrapped around Rachel's bottom half.

"I can see a head" Kim said trying to remain calm

"We can't do this on our own"

The paramedics were giving Eddie lots of instructions which he was struggling to digest because of the stress of the situation.

With no time to Rachel's midwife was lead into the office by Bridget.

"Okay, Rachel I'm just going to see how far dilated you are" Rachel's midwife, Rebecca, said to her

"Right, you're fully dilated so we're ready to start pushing"

"So we definitely can't go to the hospital?" Rachel asked unable to believe that she was actually going to be delivering her babies in her office

"Nope, definitely no time. So on your next contraction I need you to push down into your bottom as hard as you can for me, okay?"

"Okay" Rachel replied

Rachel had been pushing for about 15 minutes now and was starting to get really tired.

"I can't do it Eddie. Please make it stop" Rachel said not knowing how much more of this she could take

"You can do it Rach, I know you can. You know that if I could do it all for you I would, but I can't."

"Come on Rachel. One more push and I reckon the first baby will be out"

On her next contraction Rachel pushed down with all of her might before their first baby was born.

"Congratulations, you have a boy" the midwife said wrapping the baby up and placing it on Rachel's chest

Rachel's eyes began to well up as she cradled this little bundle of joy in her arms, whilst Eddie's arm was draped around her holding the little boy's hand. However it wasn't long before he was passed to Kim because Rachel was ready to deliver the next baby.

After a few more minutes of pushing Rachel gave birth to a little girl.

A few minutes after the second baby was born, the paramedics turned up.

"We'll get you cleaned up and then we'll take you to the hospital just to make sure everything's okay" one of the paramedics said

"Okay. Eddie, will you go and get Taylor? I'm sure she'd love to meet her new brother or sister"

"Awwww, they're so cute" Taylor said when she walked into the office "what did you have?"

"Did Dad not tell you?"

"No he said he'd let you tell me"

"We had a boy and a girl. Shall we tell them what we've decided to name them Eddie?"

"Yeah, why not"

"Okay, well this is Daisy" Rachel said pointing to the baby in her arms "and that's Jack" she said pointing to the bay that Kim was holding "do you want to hold them?"

"Yes please" Taylor replied squealing in delight

**This is not medically accurate, please review xxx**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The following day Rachel and the twins were discharged from hospital. Taylor was pleased it was Saturday because it meant she could go with her Dad to pick them up.

Taylor and Eddie rushed up to the ward, carrying the car seats, to find Rachel sat on the edge of the bed waiting to go.

"What took you so long?" Rachel asked standing up and placing a kiss on Eddie's lips

"Nothing, just couldn't... decide what to wear" Eddie replied

"Right, shall we get going then?"

As it was the middle of the winter they knew the twins needed to wrapped up very warm. Rachel put Jack into his all in one, while Eddie put Daisy into hers. They then strapped the twins into their car seats, said goodbye to the nurses and walked out to the car.

Jack scrunched his face up and let out a small yawn on their way to the car.

"You tired little man?" Eddie said tickling his son's tummy

Jack and Lily slept for the whole journey home whilst Taylor sat in the middle of them staring at them the whole way home. Even though they hadn't even been alive for 24 hours yet, Taylor loved her brother and sister so much.

"Why are they always sleeping?" Taylor asked as the car pulled into the drive way

"Well, babies don't do a lot else apart from sleep, eat and poo when they're first born" Rachel replied

"Make the most of it, because they don't stay like it for long. I'm sure they'll soon be little monkeys, just like you were" Eddie said

They got the babies out of the car and took them into the lounge. Rachel went in first and was greeted by a lot of balloons and banners.

"So this is why you were late this morning?"

"Yeah, well we thought we'd celebrate" Taylor said

"I think that's a lovely idea. Oh by the way, Mel and Phil are coming over this afternoon to meet the twins"

"Okay, Mum and Dad wanted to know when you'd be up for visitors?" Eddie asked

"Well they can come around today if they want?"

"Are you sure it won't be too much?"

"I think I'll be able to survive. I'm not ill, I've only given birth" Rachel said giggling

They put their twins into their moses baskets in the lounge but it wasn't long before Daisy started to cry.

"Are you hungry baby?" Rachel asked picking Lily out of her moses basket

Rachel sat on the sofa and started to feed Daisy. Eddie and Taylor then came back into the lounge with the drinks they'd just made.

"Please can I hold Jack?" Taylor asked

"Course you can love, do you want to pass him to her Eddie?"

Taylor sat up on the sofa next to Rachel and Eddie placed Jack into her arms, his head resting on a pillow.

"He's so cute" Taylor commented

"Of course he is, look at him Mum" Eddie said making Rachel smile

The morning seemed to be spend feeding and changing the twins. After lunch their was a knock at the door.

"Hi Mel, hi Phil" Eddie said opening the door and standing back to let them in

"Hiya, where's my niece and nephew?" Mel replied walking into the lounge

"Hi Eddie" Phil said following his mother into the lounge

"Ahh, Rach. They're gorgeous" Mel replied walking over to the moses baskets where the twins were sleeping

"We bought these for you" Phil said handing his Auntie a bag of presents

"Thank you, you really didn't have to"

"No but we wanted to. As long as I get lots of cuddles, that is" Mel said

"Of course you can. Do you want one now?"

"I thought you'd never ask"

Rachel stood up chuckling getting Jack out of the moses basket and passing him to Mel.

"Which one's which?" Mel asked as it was hard to tell because they were both dressed in white babygrows

"You're holding Jack, and then this is Daisy" Rachel said picking Daisy out of her moses basket "do you want a hold Phil?"

"Yeah alright"

Rachel passed Daisy to Philip and then sat back on the sofa picking up the bag of presents. She passed one of them to Taylor to open too.

Mel had bought the babies outfits for when they were a tiny bit older. They were both dungerees, but one for a boy and one for a girl.

"Aww, they're going to look gorgeous in these. Thanks Mel, thanks Phil" Rachel said leaning over and giving her sister a kiss on the cheek

"Do you want me to put them upstairs?" Eddie asked

"Yes please, if you don't mind"

They sat talking for a little bit before Daisy started to cry.

"She's probably hungry Phil" Rachel said taking Daisy out of his arms

Philip sat their rather uncomfortable trying to avoid looking at his Auntie breastfeeding his cousin.

"Loosen up Phil, it's not like you can actually see anything" Mel said making Phil's cheeks turn an even darker shade of red

"What, I didn't say anything!" Phil replied "I'm off now, anyway. Bye. And congratulations on the twins by the way"

"Thanks Phil, have a good day" Rachel said

"Bye love, don't be back too late" Mel said to her son

Philip walked out of the lounge still trying to not look at Rachel.

"Where's he off to?" Eddie asked

"He's going to the cinema with Danielle, they've been seeing quite a lot of each other recently" Mel replied

A little while later John and Sally arrived to meet their new grand children.

"They're so beautiful" Sally said gazing down at her two grand children

"Yeah, they really are. Must take after their Mum" John said smiling at Rachel

"Thanks Dad" Eddie joked "but you're right"

Sally and John both had cuddles and then they gave them the presents that they'd bought for the twins. They'd bought them a couple of outfits each and also a teddy, one pink and one blue, saying 'My first teddy'.

"Thank you so much, you've spoilt them" Rachel said giving Sally a kiss, and then John.

"I think someone needs their nappy changed" John said grimacing at little Jack he was holding

"Oh, does he? Taylor would you mind going and getting the change mat and things love?" Rachel asked starting to feel quite tired

"Yeah of course" Taylor replied. She'd been a huge help to Rachel and Eddie today. Looking after two babies definitely wasn't easy

Once John and Sally had gone Taylor was sat on the sofa with Rachel whilst Eddie was cooking dinner.

"You couldn't just pass me one of those pads from over there, could you?" Rachel asked, who had just finished feeding Jack

"What are they for?" Taylor asked passing it to Rachel

"They're to stop me from leaking" Rachel said putting the pad into her bra

Luckily both babies decided to sleep whilst the three of them ate their tea. Neither one of them could have been happier about the newest addition to their family.

**Please review **


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Monday morning arrived and Taylor didn't want to go to school. She wanted to stay at home with her brother and sister.

"Please can I just stay at home Rachel? I really don't feel very well" Taylor said. Rachel knew that her period had come on yesterday so she probably wasn't feeling too great, but she also knew that she just wanted to stay at home with her, Eddie and the twins.

"I know you're not feeling very well. But I can't start letting you stay off just because you're on your period"

Taylor sighed as she dragged herself out of bed and went downstairs with Rachel for breakfast.

Once Taylor was ready she went into Rachel's bedroom, who was just getting the twins dressed.

"Mum, I've nearly ran out of pads" Taylor said

"Okay, do you want to get some out of my bathroom cupboard then?"

"Woah!" Taylor exclaimed

"What?" Rachel asked from the bedroom

"Those pads are really big"

"Oh yeah, well after you have a baby you bleed a lot so you need bigger pads than normal. There's some normal ones in there too, aren't there?"

"Yeah there are"

Rachel and Eddie strapped the twins into the car and then the five of them drove to Waterloo Road. Eddie was being acting head whilst Rachel was on maternity leave, but because Eddie was taking two weeks paternity leave Tom and Kim were stepping in.

Rachel and Eddie had decided to take the twins into school today because everyone at Waterloo Road was dying to meet them.

As soon as they took the twins out of their car seats and into their pram a huge crowd of students started to gather around them.

"Awww, they're so cute" came Janeece's voice from the crowd

"Thank you Janeece"

"What are they called?" Chlo asked

"This is Daisy" Rachel said pointing to the baby in the pram she was pushing

"And this is Jack" Eddie said pointing to the baby in the pram that he was pushing

"Have a good Taylor, see you later" Rachel said once they'd managed to get through the crowd

"Bye Mum, bye Dad" Taylor replied before going off to find her friends

Rachel and Eddie walked to the staff room. Everyone rushed over to them when they saw them arrive to say congratulations and get a look at Daisy and Jack.

"Congratulations you two" Steph said coming over and giving Rachel and Eddie a kiss "those two really are gorgeous, just like the two of you"

"Thanks Steph" Rachel replied. Even though Rachel and Steph hadn't always seen eye to eye, they'd become a lot closer as friends over the last few months. Rachel knew that she really did care a lot for the students, even if she wasn't the world's best teacher.

Tom and Kim walked over with an extremely large card and a present from all of the staff.

"This is from all of us to say congratulations" Kim said

"Thanks you lot, you really didn't have to"

"No but we wanted to" Tom said

Rachel opened up the card and read all of their lovely messages whilst Eddie opened the present.

"Look at this Rach" Eddie said showing Rachel the keepsake book they'd started to put together for them.

Rachel had only mentioned it on Friday to Kim that she hadn't bought a keepsake book for the baby, so Kim had taken it into her own hands to start one off for her. She hadn't done a lot, just stuck in the scan pictures that Rachel had in her drawer and a photo of the twins. She knew Eddie and Rachel would probably want to do the rest.

"Where did you get the photo from?" Rachel asked curiously

"I rang Mel yesterday and asked if she had one, so I went over and got one from her" Kim replied

Rachel started to cry.

"Sorry Rach, we didn't mean to make you cry" Davina said passing her a tissue

"I'm sorry, I'm just being silly. I think it's the hormones"

The bell for first lesson soon went so some teachers had to rush off to teach. The ones who didn't were lucky enough to stay and have cuddles from Daisy and Jack.

"I'm just going to nip to the loo" Rachel told Eddie before picking up her bag and walking out of the staff room

On her way she was surprised to see Taylor walk out of her lesson, and it looked as though she had been crying.

"Taylor, what's wrong sweetie?" Rachel asked going up and placing her hand on Taylor's shoulder supportively. "I'm on my way to the loo, do you want to come with me?" Taylor just nodded

They went into the staff toilets and when they did Taylor started to cry harder, so Rachel embraced her in a hug.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Rachel asked once her tears had subsided

"Well you know this morning when I said goodbye to you and Dad, and I called you Mum?"

"Yeah"

"People started saying that I shouldn't be calling you Mum because you're not really my Mum. And that now Daisy and Jack are here, you won't want me"

"I may not be your birth Mum, but that doesn't make me any less of a Mum than what anyone else had. And that's complete rubbish about what they said about me not wanting you, of course I still want you. I love you so much. So don't listen to them, okay?"

"Okay. They're probably just jealous because they wish their Mum's were as good as you"

"Exactly" Rachel replied happy that Taylor seemed a bit happier now

Rachel went to the loo before walking Taylor back to her lesson and explaining to Mr Budgen that she had been with her.

"Everything alright, you were gone ages?" Eddie asked when she went back into the staff room

"Yeah, I bumped into Taylor on the way. She was a bit upset because some people in her class were saying she shouldn't be calling me Mum. But she's fine now"

"Children can be so horrible sometimes" Eddie commented

"I know, but we've all been there"

"You ready to go home?"

"How about we go for a little walk somewhere first? I could really do with some fresh air" Rachel said "Although I think that these two are probably going to need feeding first"

Rachel picked Daisy out of the pram who was being a bit fussy and sat down to feed her.

"You're going to feed her here?" Eddie asked shocked that Rachel was going to breastfeed in the staffroom.

"Yes Eddie, I'll cover up so they won't see anything" Rachel replied giggling

Once Rachel had fed both of the twins they went for a walk through the woods before returning home for some lunch.

**Please review xxx**


End file.
